Warbird Airplane Museum Collection

When, in 1956, the U.S. Navy requested competitive designs for a new jet trainer capable of taking their student pilots through advanced combat flight categories such as gunnery, fighter tactics, bombing, and carrier qualification, North American Aviation emerged the winner with its design, which used proven features from operational North American aircraft like the FJ-1 Fury and T-28 Trojan.

When the United States Air Force set out to replace the old model T-6 Texan trainers, North American was hired to complete the task. What they presented was the Model NA-159 piston-engined trainer; a design that was so successful that it was responsible for gaining a contract for two XT-28 prototypes.

In 1948, the Soviet MiG design bureau developed a high-performance jet fighter design called the I-310. It incorporated some advanced features, such as a 35-degree wing sweep, and it promised to be a sprightly performer.

The Soviet MiG-17 fighter was designed to be more stable than its predecessor, the MiG-15. When it first appeared, Western analysts gave it the Allied codename "Fresco-A" and thought it to be nothing more than a lengthened MiG-15.

The North American T-6 Texan was known as "the pilot maker" because of its important role in preparing pilots for combat. Derived from the 1935 North American NA-16 prototype, a cantilever low-wing monoplane, the Texan filled the need for a basic combat trainer during WW II and beyond.

The N3N was the last biplane to see service with the United States. Built by the Naval Air Factory, a Navy-run manufacturing complex, it was produced to replace the Consolidated NY-2s and -3s operated in the 1920s. The N3N would be the last mass-produced aircraft built by the Naval Air Factory.